Alice in den Städten (1974)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Wim Wenders (writer)
Veith von Fürstenberg (writer)

Release Date:

17 May 1974 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

German journalist Philip Winter has a case of writer's block when trying to write an article about the United States...

Plot Keywords:

Stranger | Candle | Detective | Revolving Door | Cities

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Rüdiger Vogler	...	Phil Winter
Yella Rottländer	...	Alice
Lisa Kreuzer	...	Alice's Mother (as Elisabeth Kreuzer)
Edda Köchl	...	Friend in New York
Ernest Boehm	...	Publisher
Sam Presti	...	Car Dealer
Lois Moran	...	Airport Hostess
Didi Petrikat	...	Friend in Frankfurt
Hans Hirschmüller	...	Police Officer
Sibylle Baier	...	The Woman

Also Known As:

Alice in the Cities (USA)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German | English | Dutch

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG | UK:U | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Filmverlag der Autoren

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wanderlust (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Memphis Tennesse

A film about rootlessness and finding your place

This 1974 Wim Wenders film shot in black and white has recently been screening in a re-mastered version. The film portrays the chance meeting between a man suffering writer's block and a girl who has been abandoned by her mother. The story of their becoming lumbered with one another unfolds slowly and the meticulous detail with which their journey out of America and through Europe is portrayed is impressively realistic but at times exhausting.

For me the early sections of the film set in America are the most engaging. Many of the scenes are very short in length, fading to black almost as soon as the first images flash up on screen (and mirroring the Polaroid photography of the travelling writer). Much of the dialogue is curt and to the point. This overall approach is integral to communicating one of the key themes of the film, which is of the rootlessness and alienation of the travelling writer, overwhelmed by the world around him and unable to find expression.

When the film moves out of America and into Europe the pace of the film slows considerably, reflecting the writer's gradual journey home and towards a gradual rediscovery of happiness. I found the tale to be truly heart-warming whilst steering well clear of sentimentality. However, the slowing pace coupled with the director's relentless charting of every little detail in the duo's journey made the second half of the film decidedly less engaging than the first. Nevertheless, the uplifting ending features a truly spectacular aerial shot and leaves the story poised in a satisfying place.